Srinagar, July 16: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Thursday expressed concern over the snow balling of COVID-19 into mammoth crises, saying the administration has turned its back on the exigencies that have cropped up in wake of the increased number of infections and mortality.
In a statement Party’s senior leader and Member of Parliament from Baramulla Muhammad Akbar Lone said the increasing rate of mortality and COVID-19 contamination reveals the failure of the present regime to deal with the crises. “Had the ruling regime in J&k come up with a well thought out strategy to cope up with the prevailing crises, the situation would not have become as dire as it is now. We see how in a well-organized manner various state governments across the country made ample arrangements in form of creating makeshift hospitals, extra testing facilities, availability of ventilators to cope up with the viral sprawl. Unfortunately big shots in the administration kept themselves confined to Jammu up until June, leaving the people in the valley to fend for themselves. Regrettably the administration also failed to scale up the existing infrastructure in hospitals by augmenting existing bed strength and other life saving equipment,” he said.
Expressing dismay over the scarcity of beds in hospitals, Lone said, “There aren’t enough beds in hospitals; everybody cannot afford to admit his kith and kin in private nursing homes. With the number of cases rising every day, the strain on the health care infrastructure in J&K, especially Kashmir has begun to show up. Attendants, patients are now coming out equivocally and expressing their anger about not being able to find hospital beds, proper treatment for themselves, their family and friends. Hospitals are also short of human resources to deal with the increasing rush. Non-Covid patients are not being segregated from the infected. The macro and micro management of incoming rush and COVID-19 protocol in hospitals has gone for a toss. No measures are being taken to manage the over load in tertiary and secondary hospitals; improving testing and documentation; diagnosis and care without risking the safety of patients and healthcare.”
“Administration is selling failed lockdown as a success, the idea behind the lockdown was to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infection, and the administration has failed to achieve that end. It is needless to say that the present regime in J&k has failed to follow the “trace, test and treat” norm of the world health organization. It seems that the administration has given in; it is only busy in photo-ops and PR. The response of the JK administration to COVID-19 crises presents a grimy tale of shortfalls and mistakes. The what-aboutery of the civil administration is only adding to the miseries of people,” he said.
He further added, “Far from utilizing the previous lockdowns to curb the viral spread, the government is using it as a cover to hide its failures on all fronts. The negligence of the administration has given rise to new COVID-19 clusters by pushing people to queue up for domicile forms, class 4th jobs ignoring the COVID-19 protocol. The primary duty of the administration is to serve people; unfortunately in this part of the world it is the other way round. It goes without saying that presently J&K typifies a dysfunctional anarchy. Administration has incontestably failed common people, the frontlines workers, the medics and ground staffers in their hour of need. It has failed on every conceivable matrix in its response to the prevailing crises.”
